The Deck of Many Things card set is a wonderful tool for representing fortune-telling encounters in your game, whether characters arc reading the cards for each other or the DM is portraying a non-player character peering into the characters' futures.
Divinatory Basics
Traditional readings require two people: a questioner who is looking for answers, and a reader who places the cards in a spread and interprets their meaning. The questioner and reader cooperate to understand the situation the questioner is in and what might be possible in the questioner's future.
Usually, the DM takes on the role of the reader, and a character is the questioner. However, a character might be both questioner and reader, interpreting the cards to answer a question they're asking themself, or a character might perform readings for the others in the party.
Choosing Questions
When posing a question using the deck, avoid anything with a simple yes-or-no answer and questions with a specific, factual answer. Instead, ask open-ended questions that might have many answers. Questions like "How can we stop Iuz from conquering all of the Flanaess?" are more suited to the divinatory nature of the cards than "Where is the Eye of Vecna?"
Stacking the Deck
The reader should decide what cards to include in the deck for the reading, depending on their goals.
A DM might want to include only cards that reflect the themes of the adventure, or choose the exact cards to display to give the players specific clues. A character reading a nonplayer character's fortune might do the same if they want to trick or manipulate that person, but trusting in fate and including the whole deck is always an option.
Performing the Reading
As cards are drawn, take your time interpreting them. Ponder how the cards' possible interpretations might speak to the questioner's memories, experiences, and current situation. The reader should help the questioner look for connections between cards, seeking the story the cards tell as they're brought together.
Divinatory Spreads
This section presents three divinatory spreads you can use in your games. These are only a few of many possible spreads: you can use them as a basis for creating your own ways to place and interpret the cards. Customize the spread to suit the question asked and the deck to suit the themes of your game.
One-Card Spread
For the simplest reading, draw a single card from the deck. Many readers use this technique in the morning when preparing for a day of adventure. The card they draw presents a message about the day to come, something to use as guidance when the adventure becomes challenging and the way forward unclear. Alternatively, drawing a single card can provide quick guidance concerning an immediate problem or an ongoing situation that has become impossible to ignore.
Three-Card Spread
A three-card spread allows the cards to tell a story, as the cards interact with each other and their meanings resonate and connect. This increases the power and usefulness of the cards, but there are many ways to interpret a three-card spread, so it's important to know what you want from the cards before you place them.
The most common form of a three-card spread is to interpret the first card as representing the past, especially forces in the past that are relevant to the question. The second card represents the present situation, and the final card hints at the future.
Alternatively, the first card might represent a problem, the second card an obstacle, and the final card the solution. Or the first card could represent the questioner, the second card another individual, and the third card the relationship between the two.
Five-Card Spread
A five-card spread (see diagram 1) allows a question to be answered with great complexity and nuance, as the cards show multiple perspectives and weave an interconnected story, Here's an example of a five-card spread you might use: